Metrolinx orders 12 DMUs for Toronto airport line

Ontario regional transport agency Metrolinx on Friday said it has entered into a C$53 million contract with Sumitomo Corp. of America to supply 12 diesel multiple-units (DMU) trains for the Air Rail Link (ARL) between Toronto’s Union Station and Lester B. Pearson International Airport. Sumitomo will be joined by Nippon Sharyo, Ltd. in the effort.

The announcement by Metrolinx capped a busy week for both regional and urban rail transit developments in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

The DMU contract carries an option for six additional cars that would bring its total of the contract to $75 million. It includes capital spare parts, special maintenance tools, and contingencies for Metrolinx design changes.

The cars (depicted above) are scheduled for delivery in 2014, with ARL service to begin in 2015. To speed up delivery of the vehicles and at the same time obtain price benefits, Metrolinx combined its procurement requirements with California’s Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Procurement Contract.

Last December SMART ordered 18 DMUs from Sumitomo and Nippon Sharyo, with options available to the California agency or other authorities; Metrolinx expressed its interest in exercising such an option earlier this year.

Gino Antoniello, vice president, Transportation Systems Unit, Sumitomo Corp. of America, said the contract “not only represents our entry into the Canadian marketplace, but confirms that the DMU is a remarkable product. I believe we will see more and more municipalities looking at this technology as a way to start a first rail transit system or use it as a feeder link to larger commuter systems.”